Innovate: Vermont business briefs

Oct. 31, 2012

Low income trust picks three directors for power board

The Vermont Low Income Trust for Electricity, Inc., known as VLITE, has designated three independent directors to serve on the board of directors of Vermont Electric Power Co. Inc., known as VELCO.

VLITE is a nonprofit public benefit corporation, formed as part of the merger between Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service, to hold an ownership interest in VELCO.

The three board nominees are Theresa Alberghini DiPalma of Burlington, Michael Dworkin of Montpelier, and Cort Richardson of East Montpelier, who bring extensive experience in technical, governance, and public interest areas to their service on the board.

DiPalma is currently serving as a senior vice president for marketing and external relations at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington. She spent 10 years in Washington, D.C., working for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., before returning to Vermont to serve in Gov. Howard Dean’s administration.

Dworkin as been a utility regulator, an appellate litigator and management partner in a telecommunications engineering firm. He is currently professor of law and director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School.

Richardson works for The Council of State Governments in Montpelier as the director of the Northeast High-level Radioactive Waste Transportation Project. Richardson formerly served as the executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, as a state policy analyst, and as a Washington Electric Cooperative trustee.

Efficiency Vermont is launching a year-long effort in January to encourage more Vermonters to make their homes more energy efficient. Under the Vermont Home Energy Challenge, which is being promoted in partnership with the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network, and other organizations, towns will set a target of weatherizing 3 percent of the homes in their communities over the course of a year.

Construction can begin on northern rail trail

The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail has won a land use permit that will allow construction to begin on 44 miles of the trail across scenic stretches of northern Vermont.

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The first phase will include work from St. Johnsbury to Danville, a leg linking Morristown, Hyde Park, Johnson and Cambridge, and a section of trail from Sheldon through Highgate and on to Swanton.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., secured a $5.2 million grant for the trail in 2005, but the project has been on hold during an environmental review process.

“In the short term, construction of the trail will create badly needed jobs in a part of our state hit hard by this terrible recession,” Sanders said in a prepared statement. “Once built, the trail will be a huge attraction for tourists who come to Vermont in the winter to snowmobile or ski, or in the summer to bike and hike.”

The railway served as an east-west transportation corridor from 1877 until it closed in 1994. The Vermont Association of Snow Travelers won state approval in 2003 to convert the railway into a four-season recreational trail. The Northern Border Regional Commission awarded a $250,000 grant for the trail earlier this month.

Attorney General sues mint maker

The office of Attorney General William Sorrell has filed suit against a Vermont-based company and its chief executive officer for mislabeling tins of mints as Vermont products.

The suit names VerMints, Inc., of Burlington and Gary Rinkus of Pembroke, Mass., as defendants. According to the complaint, from 2006 through 2010 the company sold more than 1.3 million tins labeled “Vermont’s All Natural Mints,” or “Vermont’s All Natural Pastilles,” and “Vermints.”

Many tins were also marked “Product of USA,” when in fact, the products were manufactured at a plant in Canada, according to the complaint, mostly out of ingredients that originated outside of Vermont.

Addison chamber offers shipping services

The Addison County Chamber of Commerce has formed a partnership with Group Transportation Services to offer a transportation management program to its members to save time and money on a range of shipping and receiving services.

Chamber President Andy Mayer said small and medium sized companies typically are not able to have a shipping specialist on their staffs, so this program will offer that expertise.

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“No matter what you’re having delivered to you, or what you’re sending out, it would be smart to see what they can do for you,” Mayer said. “Between their knowledge and network, they are likely to save you a significant amount of money.”

Sign up for web marketing summit

Registration is now open for the 3rd Annual Vermont Web Marketing Summit on Nov. 14. The summit will include presentations from 13 experts from a variety of organizations.

The goal of the summit is to teach business leaders how to adapt their media strategies as the lines between traditional and new media are blending. Curve Trends Marketing of South Burlington is hosting the summit.

The summit will be held at the Burlington Hilton, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with support from Burlington advertising agency KSV, with offices in New York City and Boston, and the Burlington Business Association.

The cost for the summit, which is open to the public, is $190 per person. For more information, contact Bibi Mukherjee, founder of Curve Trends Marketing at bibim@curvetrends.com, or visit vtwebmarketingsummit.com